Londoners celebrated the New Year with the profound, glad hints of Big Ben echoing across the city without precedent for over four years.
In a otherwise subdued New Year’s Eve celebration, revelers whistled and cheered as the ringers, an image of British national prestige and pride, banged multiple times at 12 PM, video of the event uncovers.
The iconic 320-foot tall clock overshadow the Houses of Parliament, one of the world’s most unmistakable landmarks, had been hidden by scaffolding since 2017 while going through a significant $108 million protection and renovation project.
The bell had been quiet the whole time, prior to striking multiple times at 12 PM Friday to mark the finish of 2021 and the beginning of 2022.
Londoners sobbed on Aug. 21, 2017, when the ringers rang for what might be the last time in years.
Observers likened the image of the secret clock pinnacle to the scene New Yorkers saw every day during the 1980s of the Statue of Liberty surrounded by scaffolding as it went through its main multimillion remodel project.
Big Ben first rang across London on May 31, 1859.